# Creflo Dollar Founder of World Changers Church International in College Park, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) and one of the most prominent and controversial Prosperity Gospel preachers in America. Dollar became a national symbol of megachurch excess when he launched a crowdfunding campaign asking his congregation to fund a $65 million Gulfstream G650 private jet — a request that crystallized public criticism of the Prosperity Gospel financial model. ## Ministry and Theology Dollar (his actual legal name) founded World Changers Church International in 1986. The church grew to approximately 30,000 members across multiple campuses, with Dollar's television program Changing Your World reaching audiences globally. His theological teaching is firmly within the Word of Faith tradition: radical faith produces material results, giving triggers supernatural returns, and poverty is a curse that faith overcomes. Dollar teaches a particularly aggressive version of seed faith, frequently requesting specific large dollar amounts from congregants and tying financial giving directly to divine healing, career success, and debt elimination. ## The Gulfstream G650 Campaign In 2015, Dollar's ministry launched a crowdfunding campaign asking supporters to donate toward a $65 million Gulfstream G650 to replace the ministry's existing jet. The campaign — "Project G650" — asked 200,000 people to give $300 each. The campaign became international news and a lasting reference point for Prosperity Gospel criticism. It was the most brazen public request for luxury aircraft funding in the movement's history, and the backlash forced the ministry to take down the crowdfunding page (though Dollar reportedly acquired a G650 through other means). Dollar's defense was theologically consistent with Prosperity Gospel doctrine: the airplane was a ministry tool, not a personal luxury, and "the world" was attacking God's anointed for daring to believe for God's best. This framing — reinterpreting public criticism as spiritual warfare — is the standard Prosperity Gospel response to accountability pressure. ## Senate Finance Investigation Dollar was one of six televangelists investigated by Senator [[Chuck Grassley]]'s [[Senate Finance Committee]] (2007-2011). The investigation examined whether Dollar's ministry used tax-exempt funds for personal enrichment. Dollar's ministry refused to cooperate with the investigation, and the probe ended without legislative action — demonstrating the practical impossibility of investigating church finances under current law. ## Analytical Framework Creflo Dollar represents the **escalation dynamic** of Prosperity Gospel: each generation of preachers pushes the boundaries of what can be requested from congregants and justified theologically. [[Oral Roberts]] asked for seed faith offerings. Copeland accumulated jets over decades. Dollar publicly asked 200,000 people to crowdfund a jet — making the grift mechanism visible in a way that embarrassed the movement but didn't fundamentally change it. Dollar's congregation is predominantly Black, which adds an important analytical dimension: Prosperity Gospel's appeal in Black communities often connects to a theology of overcoming systemic disadvantage through divine favor — a framework that acknowledges the reality of racial economic inequality while channeling the response toward individual faith rather than collective action. This makes Prosperity Gospel in Black megachurches simultaneously a genuine expression of hope and a mechanism for extracting wealth from communities that can least afford it.